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SPEECH 



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OF 




AYLETT BUCKNEB, OF KENTUCKY, 



ON 



THE PROPRIETY OF ORGANIZING GOVERNMENTS. 



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FOR y^-'^x 



THE TERRITORIES. 



Delivered in the House of Representatives, February 17, 1849. 

Mr. Chairman : It is the duty of Congress to organise govern- 
ments for the Territories of New Mexico and California. The 
military rule in force in these Territories during the continuance of 
the war, ceased upon the ratification of the treaty of peace 
with the Republic of Mexico. The only government that obtains 
there now is one partly civil and partly military, established by 
the necessity of the case, and ought to be superceded at the earli- 
est practicable period of time. The only difficulty in the way of leg- 
islation is to be found in the question of slavery. The agitation of 
this subject has already disturbed the harmony and peace of the 
Union, and is regarded by some as threatening its dissolution. It 
is the part of wisdom to remove this cause of discord, to close up 
this fountain of bitter waters. In the adjustment of the terms by 
which governments are to be given to these Territories, the slave 
States cannot suffer. Governments once established, the North will 
be hushed into silence, fanaticism lose the food which feeds it, and the 
Union become more indissolubly united. The factionists of the 
North and South, by the advocacy of unvvise measures and the use 
of imprudent speeches, have fomented sectional jealousies and ex- 
cited prejudices, which, if not arrested, must lead to the most un- 
happy results. Remove the cause of the excitement, and tranquili- 
ty necessarily follows. Give governments to these Territories, and 
the whole country will glide smoothly and rapidly into a state of 
quietude equal to that which prevailed, anterior to the origin of the 
controversy. 

In my opinion, slavery can never be planted in these Territories. 
.Many causes exist, insuperable in their nature, to prevent any such 
result. In the first instance, should Congress sanction the introduc- 
tion of slavery within their limits, it would be conferring a useless 
privilege. Their soil, climate, and agricultural productions forbid 
the profitable employment of negro slaves. A careful perusal of 
the reconnoisance made of these Territories by Col. Fremont, 
Lieuts. Emory, Abert, Cooke, and Johnston, who were directed by 
the President to examine the country, and to ascertain, among other 
objects, its agricultural and mineral resources, must satisfy every 
uaprejudiced mind of this fact. Nine-tenths of it is either rough, 
barren, and inaccessible mountains, whose sum mits in many i nBtati- 
Twwere, printer, firanklin building, coraer'of Louiaiana avenue and Sixth street. 






"^-^v 



ces are covered with everlasting snows, or vast, sterile, and arid des- 
erts, desti,tute of water, vegetation, and all animal subsistence. The 
r^sidife of the country is at times partially covered with grass : 
occasionally an oasis is found, rich in verdure, but in the greater 
part of it nature makes but feeble and often abortive attempts to 
cover her nakedness. The year is divided into but two seasons, 
the <vet and the dry. The first is from December to March ; the 
last, the remainder of the year. During the w-et season the rains 
often fall in large quantities, but in the dry season not a drop is 
looked for, or experienced. Then an oppressive and even intense 
heat predominates, consuming the gr£iss and drying up the small 
streams of water. Famine, the most direful of all calamities that 
can afflict a country, would prevail, but lor the manner in which 
the soil is cultivated. This is done by irrigation ; the water is 
drawn from the streams by the use of canals and other artificial 
contrivances, and is thus made to overflow the fields in cultivation, 
giving .sustenance and nourishment to the growing crops. But I 
\ti\\ quote from the authorities just mientioned for a more full and 
accurate description of this country and of its' physi(*;al peculiarities. 
"TJie country," says Lieut. Emory;, "from the Arkansas to the Colo^'j^ 
rado,'a distance of over 1200 miles, in its adaptation to agriculture/ 
has peculiarities which must forever stamp itself upon the popula- 
tion which inhabits it. All of North Mexico, embracing New 
Mexico, Chihuahua, Sonora, and the Californias, as far north a^ 
the Sacramento, is, as far as the best information goes, the same 
in the physical character of its surface, and differs but little in cli- 
mate and products. 

"In no part of this vast tract can the rains from Heaven be re- 
lived upon, to any extent, for the cultivation of the soil. The fearth 
i^ destitute of trees, and in great part also of any vegetation: 
whatever. 

" A few feeble streams fl^ow in different directions from the great 
mountains, w'hich in many places traverse this region. These 
.streams are separated sometimes by plains, and sornetimes by 
mountains, without water and without vegetation, and may be 
Cjalled deserts, so far as they perform any useful part in the suste- 
nance of animal life. The cultivation of the earth is therefore 
confined to those narrow strips of land which are within the level 
of the waters of the streams, and wherever practised in a commu- 
nity with any success, or to any extent, involves a degree of subor- 
dniation and* absolute obedience to a chief, repugnant to the habits 

df our people. 

" The chief who directs the time and (Quantity of the prdcious irri- 
gating water must be implicitly obeyed by the whole community. 
A departure from his orders, by the \yaste of water, or unjust disr 
tHbution of it, or neglect to make the proper embankments, may 
enc^an^-er tlie means of subsistence of many people. He must,, 
therefore, be armed with power to pUnish promptly and, immedi; 

ateiy." ' ■ i i ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ' " 

Ao"ain: Describing the country east'of the Tulave lakes^ and 
south of the parallel of 36°, and the country between the Colorar?©; 
and Gila rivers, he sayg : " Of these regions nothing is known, ex- 



cept from the reports of trappers, ai;d the speculations of geolo- 
gists. As far as these accounts go, all concur in representing it as 
a waste of sand and rock, unadorned with vegetation, poorly war 
tered, and unfit, it is believed, for any of the useful purposes of life. 
. 4. glance at the map will show what an immense area js embraced 
in these boundaries ; and, notwithstanding the oral accounts in re- 
gard to it, it is difficult to bring the mind to the belief in the exist- 
ence; of such a sea of waste and desert ; when every other grand 
division of the earth presents some prominent feature in the e^no- 
my of nature, administering to the wants of man." 'V.'.' 

The principal agricultural productions of this country are'Iridiaij 
corn and wheat ; the grape is successfully cultivated, and makes a 
fair quality of wine ;; detached ar^^^small parts of it offer good pas- 
turage for cattle and sheep ; but 'die remote and isolated' position 
of New Mexico from the commercial parts of the world will prcv- 
yent its eyer having a foreign market for its surplus products. The 
nearest settlements to New Mexico on the west are the towns of 
the Pacific coast, distant sjx or seven hundred miles, and separated 
by nearly impassable deserts. Chichuahua is distant from the most 
southern settlement of New Mexico four hundred and twenty miles, 
and most of the intervening country desert; the traders are usually 
from thirty to forty days transporting loads from Santa Fe to Chi- 
huahua. To the east the nearest settlements are our own borders-, 
the distance to Fort Levanworth by the usual travelled route, is 
eight hundred and seventy miles. New Mexico has no railroads, 
canals, or navigable rivers, to ; facilitate intercourse with, or cheapen 
transportation to foreign markets. But, from the best data furnish- 
ed, it may ^^ell be doubted, if this country can, afford much of an 
agricultural surplus after supplying the wants of its inhabitants. 
The necessity for irrigation, and the small supply of water found 
in that country fixes a limit, and a veiry narrow one, to all the tilla- 
ble soil, and consequently to the amount of its productions. Lieut» 
Emory, speaking of the amount of tillable soil in this countryt. 
says : " The surface covered with vegetation, though small, is diffi- 
cult to estimate ; and perhaps it is unimportant that an estimate 
should be made, since the productiveness of thqse regions depends 
mi other considerations than smoothnesls of surface and character 
of soil. The rains cannot be relied upon, and the, tiller of the earth 
depends upon irrigation from the mountain streams for his crops 
The extent of ground capable of tillage is thus reduced to very 
yarrow limits, easy of computation. A knowledge of the water 
courses, their fall, volumeVand extent, and the quantity of lands on 
their margin -within the level of these waters, are the data upon 
"^liich the computation must be based. , Taking this as agi^ide, an- 
inspection of a map wilt give a general idea ofthe extent of arable 
ground, sufficiently correct for all practicable puvpose~s ; but, in 
mndor, it should ijc said, that many streams laid down in it disap- 
pear in the sand, while the rocky cliffs, forming t^ie banks of others, 
render navigation impracticable." .Lieut. Peck; remarks upon the 
same subject, whep speaking of the Territory of New Mexico, that 
a large portion of it is made up of sands, rocks, and desert waste, 
lie says •. " If you cast your eye upon the map, you will see from 



the position of the towns where the arable land is found. A nar- 
row strip along the Del Norte, with a few detached patches here 
and there upon the affluents of the same river, constitute it all ; for 
there is very little land not already improved that is worth occu- 
pying." The present population of New Mexico is estimated at 
one hundred thousand persons. A very large proportion of this 
number is composed of poor, illiterate, and degraded Indians, sub- 
stantially slaves to the few resident Mexicans of Spanish descent, 
and who, from their extreme indigence and a limited demand for 
labor, are compelled to work for a mere pittance. The remoteness 
of New Mexico from a suitable market, her abundant cheap labor, 
the small amount of tillable soil within her limits, and the great 
expense and trouble attendant i^ppn its cultivation, taken in con- 
nection with the character of hc,p^'agricultural products and other 
commercial resources, must prevent the profitable transfer of negro 
slave labor from the rice, cotton, and sugar plantations of the South, 
or from the corn, wheat, tobacco, and hemp fields of the Western 
States, to the banks of the Rio Grande. Nature has more eflfec- 
tually prohibited slavery in New Mexico than can any legislative 
enactment of Congress. The same objections obtain against all 
the territories acquired by the treaty with Mexico, subject to 
slight modifications in respect to the country embraced within ^he 
valley of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. This valley is 
situated between the Sierra Navada mountains and the Pacific 
ocean, north of the 36th parallel, and contains the only valuable 
territory in California. Its general character is barren and unpro- 
ductive, yet with a fine climate and the use of irrigation, many 
parts of it are made to yield abundantly, and could only be made 
to produce by these means. Wheat and corn, rye and oats, with 
all the fruits of the temperate and many of the tropical climates, 
are cultivated with success. But this valley can be of little value 
for agricultural purposes, and must be incapable of sustaining, by 
its own agricultural resources, the dense population destined to 
inhabit it. 

The rivers of the valley begin to rise with the rains of the wet 
season, and are kept up the first part of the summer by the melt- 
ing of the snows in the adjacent mountains. They often overflow 
their banks, and submerging many of the contiguous bottoms, and this 
at a season when it does great damage to the crops ; the low tem- 
perature of the water not only checks the growth, but more fre- 
quently destroys the entire crop whether of grass or grain. These 
inundations do not take place every year. That depends upon the 
amount of snow which accumulates in the neighboring mountains 
during the preceding winter. The overflows are of frequent, not 
annual, occurrence. This overflow oflfers an impediment which 
will prevent the cultivation of many of those rich alluvial bottoms 
now regarded by many as furnishing fine sites for productive farms. 

The small valleys at the foot of the mountains, which, from their 
rapid descent and the s^treams of water which occasionally flow 
through them and furnish the means and facilities of irrigation, 
are the only spots of soil which can be cultivated, and are the seats 
of the missions. The amount of tillable soil in this valley will be 



found upon actual experiment, comparatively speaking, confined to 
a very few acres — far too few to meet the wants of its inhabitants. 
Until within a few years this valley has been occupied by intelli- 
gent, industrious, and energetic Catholic missionaries from Spain 
for at least two hundred years. During that period of time they 
were not enabled, with the co-operation of the tractable Indian la- 
bor of the valley, to convert it into an agricultural country. Na- 
tural causes, and not the want of industry or of skill on their part, 
defeated the experiment. 

The valley is said, at times, to furnish fine pasturage for cattle, 
but the grazier will encounter many difficulties in the pursuit of 
his occupation. The genial rains of the wet season covers the 
whole country with a rich and luxuriant carpet of vegetation. 
During this time the cattle, bountifully supplied with nutricious 
grasses, soon become fat, but as the dry season advances the grass 
gradually disappears from the face of the country, the result of the 
excessive heat and protracted dry weather^ it then presents the 
parched and desolate and arid appearance of a desert, and the cat- 
tle, deprived of their accustomed food, becomes rapidly poor and 
often die of starvation. 

Captain Wilkes, of the Exploring Expedition, says : that " when 
in California, no rain had fallen for eleven months ; that none fell 
for the next six ; making in all seventeen consecutive months of 
drought. The cattle died by hundreds upon the plains. He was 
informed by residents that such droughts were not unfrequent." 
Greenhow, in his history of California, says " heavy rains are of rare 
occurrence, and two years without any is not unusual." The 
droughts and consequent destruction of the grass must ever render 
stock-raising a precarious and often unprofitable business. 

This valley is estimated to contain twenty thousand Indians who, 
for two centuries, have performed all the labor needed in the coun- 
try, " and are stimulated to work by a salary of three dollars per 
month, and repeated floggings." 

Lieutenant Emory says : " This race, which, in our country, has 
never been reduced to slavery, is in that degraded condition through- 
out California, and do the only labor performed in the country. 
Nothing can exceed their present degraded condition. For negli- 
gence or refusal to work the lash is freely applied, and in many 
instances life has been taken by the Calif ornians without being 
held accountable by the law s of the land." But the wages of labor 
have been materially changed by the recent discovery of the great 
and unprecedented mineral wealth of that country. The region 
containing these mines of gold are at this time unappropriated ; all 
who desire and have the opportunity, can work there for golden 
treasure without the fear of interruption from the Government of 
the United States. This bright and alluring prospect offered of ac- 
quiring in a short time an independent fortune by mere manual 
labor, has caused a large, very large, stream of immigration to flow 
in that direction, and which will never cease until the whole coun- 
try is completely inundated by a dense population, inured to toil, 
and who have looked to manual labor as the means of livelihood. 
This immigration will be chiefly from the free States and the thick- 



e 

ly populated countries of Europe, opposed upon principle and from 
motives of interest to the institution of slavery. But the condition 
of things in California is destined to undergo a considerable change; 
Xhe lands will be surveyed and sold by the United States Govern- 
ment and purchased by capitalists. Then will be found the Cali- 
fQrnia Indian and the immigrant competing with each other at the 
mines for employment. The number seeking work will exceed the 
demand for it. To plant slavery in California and perpetuate it, 
slave men and Avomen must be taken there, and families of therii 
reared. Go to any farm in Kentucky where slaves are owned, and 
it will be proved that not more than one in four, on an average, are 
enabled to maintain themselves. The women with young and iri- 
creasing families cannot be employed so as to earn food and rai- 
rnent for themselves and families. The old and infirm are encum- 
brances. Now, deduct the expense of maintaining a family of four 
persons (including the payment of taxes and doctor's bills) from the 
gross income of one of the number, and a basis is established upon 
which can be truly estimated the nett profits derivable from thie 
employment of slave labor. , • 

A voyage by sea to California cannot be performed in less time 
than three months, it is attended with considerable inconvenience 
and great dangers, having to make the circuit of the whole of South 
America, doubling Cape Horn, being the most southern extremity 
of the Western Continent : an undertaking considered hazardous 
-even by experienced navigators. A voyage through the Gulf of 
Mexico, across the Isthmus of Panarna, and thence by the Pacific 
Ocean to California, is very expensive and still more dangerous. 
A journey by land across the Rocky Mountains, and the immense 
deserts which intervene between the United States and California, 
present scenes of hardships to be endured, and obstacles to be sur- 
mounted, calculated to deter the most intrepid adventurer. Those 
going by this route, collect together on the western borders of the 
State of Missouri early in the spring, and on the appearance of the 
grass, commence a forward movement, and continup travelling un- 
til late in autumn, by which time, if fortunate, they arrive in the 
inhabited portions of California ; but should they, from any mis- 
fortune or untoward accident, be delayed, winter overtakes them 
whilst yet in the mountains, the grass is destroyed, the game dis- 
appears, the cold becomes intense, their cattle die of starvation;, 
and they, impeded in their journey by the deep snows, chilled an^ 
benumbed by the frigid climate, and destitute of food, die a mosjt 
horrid death : whole parties have met with this horrid fate in the 
mountains. 

The prominent objections militating against the introduction of 
slavery into these Territories, consists first, in the cost, trouble, and 
danger of transporting slaves from the United States to that coun- 
try ; and, secondly, in the comparatively few of the whole number 
of a family whose labor can be rendered pecuniarily advantageous 
to the owner. Thirdly, from the high price of living, the result of 
a condition of things and a combination of circumstances beyond 
control. But little of the soil is subject to cultivatipn, which is at- 
tended with great trouble and expense, and when taxed to its ut- 



most power of production will not yield sufficient food for the wants 
of its inhabitants. They will have to look to a foreign market to 
supply the deficit, which necessarily enhances the price of provi- 
sions, and increases the expense of living. The fourth obstacle to 
the introduction of slavery, is the low wages of labor effected by 
competition for employment between the free immigrant and the 
California Indian. Let any man of unprejudiced mind take into 
consideration these difficulties and he will, in my opinion, come to 
the conclusion that slavery can find no abiding place in California. 
Lieutenant Emory, Avho traversed the most of this country, hav- 
ing a regard to its physical appearance, and probable capacity, says, 
upon the subject of negro slavery, that " the profits of labor are too 
inadequate for the existence of negro slavery. Slavery, as prac- 
ticed by the Mexicans, under the form of peonage, which enables 
their master to get the services of the adult while in the prime 
of life, without the obligation of rearing him in infancy, supporting 
liim in old age, or maintaining his family, affords no data for esti- 
mating the profit of slave labor, as it exists in the United States. 
No one who has ever visited this country, and who is acquainted 
with the character, and value of slave labor in the United States, 
Avould ever think of bringing his own slaves here with any view to 
profit ; much less would he purchase slaves for such purpose. 
Their labor here, if they could be retained as slaves, among peons, 
nearly of their own color, would never repay the cost of transporta- 
tion, much less the additional purchase money." The President of 
the United States, in his late annual message, expresses the belief 
that in all probability California and New Mexico, from the nature 
of their soil and climate, are unsuited to the institution of slavery. 
He says : " The question is believed to be ratlier abstract than 
practical, whether slavery ever can or would exist in any portion 
of the acquired territory, even if it were left to the option of the 
slaveholding States themselves. From the nature of the climate and 
productions in much the larger portion of it, it is certain it could never 
exist, and in the remainder, the probabilities are, it would not." 
But, if the nature of the climate and the character of the produc- 
tions of this country will not exclude the use of slavery, other causes 
exist which will. Upon the transfer of territory by one govern- 
ment to another, no laws are repealed or abrogated in the country 
ceded, except such as are inconsistent with the relations which those 
people sustain to the new government. The acquisition only im- 
plies change of dominion and allegiance, a transfer of legal autho- 
rity and executive control, and all laws not necessarily inconsistent 
therewith, remain in full force and unaltered, until modified or 
abolished by the new government. The necessity for such a regu- 
lation is apparent. The interval of time which must necessarily 
elapse between the transfer and organization of a new code of laws 
for the people of a ceded territory would leave them exposed to all 
the dangers appertaining to a country without government, if no 
provision had been made for such a contingency, hiternational 
law recognised as binding by all the civilized nations of the whole 
w^orld, from considerations of imperative necessity, and having its 
foundation on the principles of natural justice and equity, affords 



8 

protection against the evils of anarchy and the perils of unrestrain- 
ed licentiousness in such cases. On this subject Vattel thus ex- 
presses himself : " The fundamental regulation that determines the 
manner in which the public authority is to be executed, is what 
forms the constitution of the State. In this is seen the form in 
w^hich the nation acts, in quality of a body politic ; how, and by 
whom the people are to be governed ; and what are the rights and 
duties of the governor. ' The laws are regulations established by 
public authority, to be observed in society.' The laws made di- 
rectly with a view to the public welfare are political laws, and in 
this class, those that concern the body itself, and the being of socie- 
ty, the form of government, the manner in which the public autho- 
rity is to be exerted ; those, in a word, which together form the 
constitution of the State, axe the fundamental laws. The civil laws 
are those that regulate the rights and conduct of the citizens among 
themselves." 

Chief Justice IMarshal, in the case of the American Insurance 
Company vs. Canter, (1st Peters' Reports,) speaking in relation to 
the transfer of the Territory of Florida, by the King of vSpain, to 
the Government of the United States, and the effect produced by 
that cession, says : " On such transfer of territory, it has never been 
held that the relations of the inhabitants with each other undergo 
any change. Their relations with their former sovereign are de- 
solved, and new relations are created between them and the Gov- 
ernment which has acquired their territory. The same act which 
transfers their country, transfers the allegiance of those who re- 
main in it, and the law which may be termed political i^ necessarily 
changed ; although that which regulates the intercourse and gen- 
eral conduct of individuals remains in force until altered by th& 
newly-created power of the State." And again ih the same opin- 
ion, says : " It has already been stated, that all the laws which were 
in force in Florida, while a province of Spain, those excepted which 
were political in their character, which concerned the relations 
between the people and their sovereign, remained in force until 
altered by the Government of the United States. Congress recog- 
nises this principle by using the words, ' laws of the territory now 
in force therein.'" 

It is evident from these authorities, that none of the laws in force 
in New Mexico and California at the time of their cession to the 
United States were abrogated except those termed political, and 
those are only termed political which refer to the relations existing 
between the people and the new Government. The allegiance due 
from the citizens of these Territories to the Republic of Mexico, 
was transferred by the act of cession to the Government of the 
United States. That transfer originated in the necessity of the 
case. But all the other laws, the municipal or local laws, or those 
which regulate the rights and conduct of the citizens among them-^ 
selves, remain obligatory and unaltered. 

All writers on national law, and judges who have given judicial 
decisions upon the subject, agree in the opinion that the relation of 
master and slave does not exist by the law of nature ; nor is the 
claim of the master, like the right to property in general, recognised 



by all civilized communities ; it owes its existence to positive law. 
slaver}', says the Supreme Court of the vState of Mississippi, (Wal- 
lier's Reports, page 36.) " is condemned by reason and the law of 
nature ; it exists, and can exist only through municij^al regulations." 
In the same volume, page 83, the Court says : " In the Constitution 
of the United States, slaves are expressly designated as persons ; 
the right of the master exists, not by the force of the law of nations 
or of nature, but by virtue only of the positive law of the States." 
The Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana, in the 14th of Mar- 
tin's Reports, page 470, says : "" Slavery is sanctioned by the laAVS 
of this State, but we consider that a right existing by a positive 
law of a municipal character, without foundation in the law of 
nature." And the Supreme Court of Kentucky, says : " Slavery 
is sanctioned by the laws of this State, but we consider that 
as a right existing by a positive law of a municipal character, 
Avithout foundation in the law of nature." Slavery, if these 
authorities are entitled to respect, can only exist by a positive law, 
treated by usage, custom, or statutary provision. It is not neces- 
sary to forbid it : it is enough that it is not specially authorized. 
The Republic of Mexico had, long before the cession of this country 
to the Government of the United States, abolished negro slavery ; 
and such was the law of that country at the time of this acquisition. 

By the constitutive acts of the Mexican Congress, adopted 31st 
January, 1824, the 30th article declares, " It is the duty of the nation 
to protect by wise and just laws the rights of man and of the citi- 
zens." On "the 13th of Jul)-, in the same year, the Mexican Con- 
gress decreed as follows : 1st, " The commerce and traffic in slaves, 
from whatever power, and under whatever flag they may come, is 
and shall be forever prohibited in the territory of the Mexican 
United States." 2d, " Slaves introduced contrary to the tenor of 
the preceding arcicle are free, from the fact alone of their treading 
the Mexican territory." President Guerrero, on the 15th Septem- 
ber, 1829, upon the authority granted by the constitutive acts, and 
according to the provision of the 30th article, decreed, 1st, "that 
slavery be exterminated in the Republic ;" 2d, " consequently, those 
are free, who up to this day have been looked upon as slaves." 

I am constrained to believe that Congress has the sole and ex- 
clusive right to legislate for the Territories ; to organize govern- 
ments for them, and to regulate by law all matters of local and do- 
mestic concern appertaining to the inhabitants residing in such 
Territories. This opinion is sustained by the decision of the Su- 
preme Court of the United States, and is in conformity with the 
whole practice of the General Government from the time <^.its 
foundation up to the present dav. 

The right of the General Government to acquire territory under 
the war and treaty-making power is granted. It would seem to 
follow, as an inevitable consequence, that it possesses the power ti> 
govern whatever it might acquire ; the former is but an incident 
to the latter. The citizens of Territories acquired do not become 
entitled to self-government. If possessed of that right, the principal 
object of acquisition, the right of jurisdiction and dominion, would 
be' frustrated. In this particular instance, recognise the right of 



10 

self-government to tlie citizens of these Territories, and they might, 
and in all probability would, liberate themselves from all obedience 
and responsibility to tl^is Government. Annexation took place 
without asking their consent, and without consulting their wishes 
upon the subject. A union thus effected, by a violation of one of 
the fundamental principles of republicanism, as avowed in our De- 
claration of Independence, that all Governments derive their just 
powers from the consent of the governed. It was an odious act of 
tyranny, for the perpetration of which no reasonable excuse can be 
offered. These Territories are not subject to State jurisdiction. A 
State, by the Constitution, is expressly prohibited from entering 
into any treaty with a foreign power, or into a compact, or agree- 
ment, with another State, or to engage in war unless actually in- 
vaded, or in such imminent danger as will admit of no delay. She 
acts only in self-defence. Territory, therefore, can neither be gain- 
ed for a State by conquest, or acquired by treaty. The power and 
jurisdiction of a State is necessarily confined to her territorial lim- 
its. Any other arrangement of jurisdiction would produce collisions 
between the States and the General Government, dangerous to tlie 
integrity of the Union. Separate legislation for the territory of 
thirty independent States, with an attempt to enforce their laws 
within its limits, would have a tendency to cause thirty civil wars. 
The conflict in the laws of the several States would utterly con- 
found the judges, and close every avenue to the temple of justice. 
The General and State Governments are supreme and independent 
within their respective spheres, and whilst each revolves in its ap- 
priate and independent orbit, harmony exists between them, but 
suffer either to move without the circle of its peculiar duties, and 
strife is the inevitable consequence. Yield this power to the Gen- 
eral Government where it justly belongs, and no clashing of juris- 
diction can take place, and justice will be admistered without de- 
lay or impediment. The Territories must then be under the juris- 
diction of the General Government or without government at all. 
In my opinion, the power is conferred on Congress in that clause of 
the Constitution which declares : " Congress shall have power to 
make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution the 
the power vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United 
States." We have, by the war and treaty-making power, the abil- 
ity to acquire territory, and by this provision of the Constitution, 
Congress has the right to legislate for it when acquired, to carry 
into effect the true and legitimate object of acquisition, the right of 
jurisdiction and dominion. But there is an express grant of power 
in the third section of the fourth article of the Constitution, which 
says: "Congress shall have power to dispose of, and make all 
needful rules and regulations respecting the territory and other 
property belonging to the United States." This general clause is 
amply sufficient to authorise Congress to establish Territorial gov- 
ernments, and in fact to do anything in the Territories not prohibit- 
ed in the Constitution itself Some persons contend that this clause 
only gives Congress the power to sell the land, without the power 
to regulate the municipal affa irs of those who settle upon it. But 
it is evident a government may hold property in territory without 



1.1 



United States ; the unappropriated lands were, by the teiSs of he 
articles of annexation, reserved to the use of the State ' 

Vattelmtorms us, in his Laws of Nations "fW^T!!' i,, r ) 
pie to a countrv implies two thinlf Fii^f Th ^'^g^t «f a peo- 

of .Vhieh the nat Jalone may She c^try tt^^^^^^^^ 
necessities, may dispose of it as it thinks proper .4d derive fromlf 
every advantage it is capable of yielding SeVo d Thl ^ 

acquiring; the empire or sovereignty of it, at thi same ?he with the 
domain, for smce the nation is free and independent it can ha ve no 
intention in settling in a country to leave to otheifthe ri<^Tt to com 
mand, or any of those rights that constitute sovereignty "This au" 

I fuJ ^ :;"^-rf ^"? '^' P"^'^^«" '^''' P«'^«^«^-» of te ritory livek 
a full and perfect right to govern and control it. On the subie'^t of 
the property the nation owns in her terrritory VatVel savs " wJ 
have already explained how a nation takes pLeSon of TcounSy 
rlf tl^ ' «^^me time gains possession of the domain and goveiS 
ment thereof. That government, with everything included in ft 
becomes the property of the nation in general." In this passa^^^^^ 

^rSlSHid r;f /" ^'^--d-• --- than mere lamHiSSS 
jurisdic.ion and full legislative power over it. Then the United 
States Government, upon obtaining possession of these Ten-itoTef 

stSfnn " '"^r?" "^^^' "^ ^^^^^^'^^^°^ «^-^ them, unlei the Coi' 
stitution expressly hmits it. The only limit to the exercise of this 
power isto be found inthesound discretion and presumed in'egr^ 
of the Congress. This opinion is confirmed by the decisions of" thI 
Supreme Coivt of the United States. 

Cr^'^.rt^ T^^ ^^''^f «oner Exchange vs. McFaddon and others, (7th 
Cranch,) Judge Marshal says: "The jurisdiction of a nation 
T.JT ruT^ ,t^"'^t,«^y '^ necessarily exclusive and absolute. It 
IS susceptible of no limitations not imposed by itself All excep- 
tions, therefore, to the full and complete power within its own ter- 
ritories, niust be traced up to the consent of the nation itself They 
can flow from no other legitimate source," Again, in the case of 
th^ American Insurance Company vs. Canter, (1st Peters,) the 
Court saj's: " untit.Florida shall become a State, she continues to 
be a 1 erritory of the United States, governed by that clause in the 
l^onstitution which empowers Congress 'to make all needful rules 
and regulations respecting the territory and property of the United 
.states. Again, m the case of the Cherokee Nation vs. the State 
Qi l^eorgia, the Court says : "The power given in this clause is of 
tne most plenary kind. Rules and regulations respecting the terri- 
tory ot the United States ; they necessarily confer complete juris- 
diction. It was necessary to confer it without limitation, to enable 
the Uovernmeht to redeem the pledge given to the old in relatioino 
the formation and powers of the new States." The same doctrines 
are, reiterated in the case of Gratiot and others (14th Peters, 537) 



12 

I will briefly recite the acts of Congress ratifying this construc- 
tion of the Constitution, and having the force of legislative precedent. 

1st. The ordinance of 1787 was recognised at the first session of 
the first Congress. The precedent is coeval with the birth of the 
Government. Many of those persons who sat in the Convention 
which framed the Constitution were members of the first Congress, 
and it may be almost denominated the work of the framers of that 
instrument. This ordinance prohibited slavery or involuntary ser- 
vitude in the territory northwest of the Ohio river. The act was 
signed by Gen. Washington. 

2d. On the 7th April, 1798, an act was passed authorising the 
establishment of a Government for the Territory of Mississippi. 
That act authorized the President to establish a government there- 
in, in all respects similar to that in the northwest of the Ohio river, 
except the article prohibiting slavery ; it then forbid the impor- 
tation of slaves into the Territory from anj"- place without the 
limits of the United States. This act was passed some consid- 
erable time before Congress was authorised by the Constitution 
to prohibit the importation of slaves into the States which were 
originally parties to the federal compact. This provision of the 
Constitution applied only to the existing States ; it did not ex- 
tend to the States thereafter to be formed, nor to the Territories of 
the United States, the exercise of jurisdiction in the organization 
of this Territory over matters of domestic concern to the inhabi- 
tants, and especially over the subject of slavery, without opposi- 
tion, shows the undisputed interpretation put, at that day, on the 
Constitution in respect to the power of Congress upon the subjects 
There was a direct exercise of legislative power in the Territories 
w^hich was positively prohibited in respect to the States existing at 
the adoption of the Constitution. 

3d. In the year 1800, Congress passed an act to divide the terri^ 
tories belonging to the United Slates northwest of the Ohio river, 
into two separate governments. This act gave to the Territory of 
Indiana a government similar to that provided by the ordinance of 
1787 for the ?>rorthwest Territory. 

4th. On the 26th March, 1804^ an act passed dividing Louisiana 
into two Territories. The 10th section of the act had three provi- 
sions in respect to the subject of slavery. First, the importation of 
slaves from any place without the limit of the United States was 
prohibited. Second, the importation from any place within the 
limits of the United States of slaves imported since the 1st of May, 
17&8, was prohibited; and third, the importation of slaves except 
by a citizen of the United States removing into said Territory for 
actual settlement, and being at the time of such removal bona fide 
owner of such slaves, Avas prohibited. Congress, by these prohi- 
bitions, imposed restrictions upon its extension even within Terri- 
tories in which It existed. It was a direct prohibition of the do- 
mestic slave trade — it was an act of power in respect to the Terri- 
tories w^hich Congress did not possess in respect to the States. 
This act w^as signed by Mr. Jefferson. 

5th. On the 11th January, 1805, an act was passed establishing 
the Territory of Michigan with a government including the sixth 
article of the ordinance of 1787. 



13 



6th. On the 3d February, 1809, a similar government was estab- 

7th. On the 4th June, 1812, an act was passed providing for the 
government ot the Territory of Missouri, and the laws and re'ula 

'Th" OnT M £eh f8 1 r r ^"^ "^" ^^^^^^"^^^ "^P-^^^^^^^ 
oin. un tne Jcl Maich 1817, a government was formed for the 

Territoiy of Alabama, and the laws then in force within it as a part 
of Mississippi, were continued in operation. ^ it as a part 

9th. On the 2d March, 1819, the Territorv of A^i.o 
formed from the Territory of Missouri, rnrj^v^eit^r ^^^^^^^ 

10th. On the 30th March, 1822, an act was passed for the terri- 
torial government ol Florida, containing provisions makint it "' 
lawful to import or bring within the said Territory from anv nln^l 
without the Territory of the United States, any^lavToT^sl'aves 
These acts were passed under Mr. Monroe's Administration 

1 1th. On the 20th April, 1836, an act was passed eSin^ the 
territorial government of Wisconsin, securing to the h Snts 
the rights, privileges and advantages" secured to thp ^^-.^i ^ 
the Northwest Territory by the ordinance of 1787 This^ac^ was 
signed by Gen. Jackson. On the 12th June, 1838, a territorial ^v 
ernment tor towa was established, and the laws of the Unit Jd Stltls 
extended over it. This act was signed by Mr. Van Buren 

12th. Near the close of the last session of this Congres.* a ^ov 
ernment was established for the Territory of Oregon extendin/th^ 
ordmance of 1787, or in other words, the Wilmot pVov o o^e/u 
The act was approved by Mr. Polk. These legislative p^^cedents 
commenced during the first Congress holden unlr our present form 
pLSiUimr ' ' " ""''""'^ "''^"^' interrup^tion to tlS 

The acts referred to, recognize, regulate and prohibit slavery and 
m fact embrace a AiU and complete exercise of legislative pCr 
over the whole subject. Many of them were passed bv the consent 
of those very patriots and statesmen who aided in the^formatTn of 
TJZTmT- 7)^"^ '' '' reasonable to presume, best unde stood 
the extent ol legislative power conferred by that instrument These 
acts have been approved by all the Presidents who were* incm^ 
bents of the Executive chair at the time of their several enactments 
from Washington to Polk. They have been invariably ^usSd 
by the decisions of the Supreme Court, a co-ordinate department of 
our Government, authorized to decide all constitutional questions 
and Irom whose opinions no appeals are known by the laws of the 
land. The writers on our constitutional laws admit the existence 
of the power. The Constitution expressly grants it, in my opinion 
but. If a doubt lingered on my mind, it would be remov'cd bv thp 
concurrent weight of evidence adduced. I again repeat, I am con- 
strained to believe Congress has the power, under the Constitution, 
to admit slavery into or exclude it from the Territories The tes* 
timony and authorities referred to clearly demonstrate the non- 
existence of negro slavery within New Mexico and California and 
the impracticability of its being carried there, except by the asaent 



14 

of Congress. Can that be obtained ? A considerable majority of 
all the members of this branch of Congress are from the free States. 
The people whom they represent are opposed to slavery, and i:egard 
it as a moral and political evil. 

Shortly after the adoption of om' present form of Government, 
the States of the North, in which slavery then existed, gave an in- 
dubitable proof of their attachment to the principles of universal 
freedom and abhorrance of human bondage, by commencing a course 
of legislation for its gradual extinction, which has long since been 
accomplished. The frequent agitation of the subject of slavery, 
and the acrimonious and vindictive discussions emanating from it» 
has considerably increased the enmity of the Northern people 
to the institution, and settled the public mind . against the further 
enlargement of the area of slavery. If there is one sentiment Com- 
mon to the people of the North it is a fixed and unalterable deter- 
mination to resist, by all lawful and constitutional means, the in- 
troduction of negro slavery into these Territories. Is there a mem- 
ber in this chamber from the free States, who will truly reflect the 
wishes of his constituents by voting to extend it beyond its present 
limits ? No gentleman can be elected from any one of all the Con- 
gressional districts of the free States, who is not pledged or known 
to be opposed to it. The Governments cannot be organized unless the 
principle of slavery be excluded. Upon this subject the people of the 
North w'ill neither be influenced by persuasion nor intimidg-ted by 
tlireats. They know their rights and are determined to maintain them 
by the use of all lawful means. It is unnecessary for me to decide 
upon the justice of their resolve. I only speak of it as an existing 
and unquestionable fact. Can the interest of the slave States be 
promoted by a failure at this f«essiou to organize Governments for 
the Territories ? Are the probabilities increased oi" slavery being 
established there by such delay? I cannot perceive upon what 
foundation such a hope can be reared. The people of the North 
argue that to admit slavery is, hi eftect, to exclude free labor; that 
experience has tested that free labor and slave labor will not fra- 
ternize,; that it never has and never will exist to any extent to- 
gether ; that free labor is necessarily degraded by an association 
with slave labor; and consequently the; people of tbe North are 
virtually excluded from these Territories if negro slavery is admit- 
ted. They further state that of all the territory acquired by.pur- 
chase of France and Spain, now including the States of Louisiana^ 
Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Florida, four out of the five have 
been admitted into the Union as slave States, and Texas, by the 
articles of annexation, canie in as a slave State; that, heretpfore' 
if slavery existed in the Territories at the time of its acquisition, it 
wp-s recognized in the Territorial Goverimient furnished them by 
Congress ; that this Territory came into the Union free, and they 
only demand it may be kept so by a law of Congress ; but the 
South, selfish and exacting, refuse this reasonable request, after 
having heretofore appropriated, fi\'ie-sixths of the States previous- 
ly acquired to the uses of slavery, They believe slavery to be an 
exclusive and aristocraticajl institution, elevating the slaveholder 
above all stimulus to labor, and sinking the other part of the com- 



15 



munity below it. That it is the duty ol^ Coii-ress to shnn. it-^ i 

O? f>,n7 .^^«^!^a^^ popuhition it is well known are opposed to it 
ineir treedom. 1 wo-tlurds ot the emigrants will be from the free 

Sv^ieTo ,T""'"" "''" " ''' ™' ^^™»'"-''. -"^ -lire; Siuali: 

not suffer i, The Constitution of tht Un ,?d Stkte^fr "^f 

tne Union shall depend upon the wi 1 of Congress T am ««f Lfi i 
both natural causes and ^litical causes exS^Xh vXver pt 
vent slaver,' betng established in these Territories. should con 

rf /ov^inrmT'xrtr' ""p"";"/" "r^« '^« -'abhshm^t 

ui governments where the necessity for them is so urgent hv si 
aavil upon a matter of mere moonshine It is exolu.iv^v I' ^ ^' 
Uon of expediency and of justice. Tak ng i^ o eotiS^^^^ 
the circumstances of the controversv T h^lT^xrlif ^^n^ijeration af 
ent in the members of C^^^T^^'SZe ^^^^ ^^^t 
tte establishment of a government with a clause pmhW^^^^^^ 
27kJ', '" ^"^"^- l^^^y ^^«"fi-e no interest^concede no SiSe" 
?akett ''"^'r^^''^ belonging to the slive States.^It 3d 

taketh6 principal element from the question of the abo lion of 
^avery. the agitation of which can do no good to tW Sou h ahd 
may be pi-oductive of much mischief and evil to thrwho'e Unfon 
ril?. ^;tr^^^ interference by the abolitionists with the vested 
rights of the people of the slave States, guarantied to them In the 

fayTtrsettlf'^^'.^rf •*"*""' ^^^ ^''^''y embarrassed and de! 
iayed the settlement oi this controversy by exciting sectional ieal 

Tpr^ok S\"r"-"^- • ^"'^^^ ^'^^'^^^ ^^- C entirely 
unprovoked and highly injurious to the owners of slaves. Slavery 

Sem It TT''> ^l^f^'y l'''^'' ^^^^^ -"^ ^-1 -^ --age- 
Knro r ^'"t^^'^^^d «^ abolished at its supreme will and 
pleasure. Congress has no power over, or right to interfere with 
It m any shape whatever. The State Governments, i the rr^^u 
ien^to^Z ''' ""^T' ""'^r^y responsible to thei'r own cons!il 
^r^<l} 1 ^T'""^ ^^''1-^^ propriety, humanit3.-, and justice, and 
to God. Any attempt to disturb the relations existing between the 



l;6i 

master and his slave, by persons not living within the slave States, 
is a violation of the spirit of the Constitution, and highly reprehen- 
sible to the parties engaged in it, be it done by individuals, parties, 
or by State legislation. 

The abolition party have caused to be circulated in the slave 
States, incendiary publications with the intention of exciting dis- 
content among the slaves. They have sent emmisaries into these 
States, instructed to incite the slaves to abandon their owners, and 
to aid in their escape, and by the emplojTnent of such practices, 
hiave in many instances effected their nefarious purposes. 

They have by force within the limits of the free States taken 
slaves from the possession of their rightful owners. These acts, 
with many others of a similar kind, which it is unnecessary to enu- 
merate, are ofRensive and injurious to the slave owner, and cannot 
be justified upon any principle of honesty or morality. The trouble- 
some interference of these fanatics have counteracted their own 
avowed intentions. The use of moral persuasion, the adduction of 
substantial arguments against the utility and justness of holding 
human being, in perpetual bondage, addressed to the master and not 
to the slave, is the only legitimate mode of eflecting emancipation. 
But the people of the North are no more responsible for the con- 
duct of these fanatics, than are the citizens of the slave States 
amenable for the unlawful acts and heinous offences of their own 
horse-thieves, counterfeiters, and murderers. 

The Northern and Southern States mutually charge each other 
with having committed aggressions upon their respective rights, 
and to a limited extent it is true ; when the States accepted the 
Constitution, they agreed to give full effect to its provisions and to 
perform all the duties to which it bound them. The 4th article of 
that instrument, giving the slave States the right of reclamation, 
and making it the duty of the free States to deliver up fugitive 
slaves upon demand, is clear, explicit, and unequivocal in its intent 
and meaning. Legislation by any State to avoid the full and faith- 
ful discharge of the duties imposed by said article is in violation of 
the spirit and letter of the Constitution. And they stand justly ex- 
posed to the imputation of bad faith and dereliction of a pledged 
duty. Any laws passed by any Southern State in contravention of 
the rights of the citizens of the Northern States is liable to the 
same objections and imputations. Give Governments to these Ter- 
ritories and it will bring about a restoration of mutual good feel- 
ing between the South and North, which may lead to a correction 
of these aggressive acts. 



To the Voters of the Fourth Congressional District : 

Gentlemen : I take this opportunity to announce myself a candidate for re-election 
to the next Congress of the United States. I believe it has been the usual practice, ander 
ordinary circumstances, to approve the political and legislative course of the Representative 
by a re-election, if merited. If in the discharge of my legislative duties I have done any- 
thing to offend, I am unapprised of it. I have to the best of my abilities discharged my 
duty to you and the country. 

Thankfi^l for passed favors, I am, gentlemen, your obedient and humble servant, 

AYLETT BUCKNER. 




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